Ticks, ticks, and more ticks. Why so many? (Oakland, Crockett: buy, to live)

[Scorpion3510]

I've been hiking with my dog numerous times in the North Bay and it seems no matter what he always comes out with multiple ticks on him. I found one on myself the other day. I used to live on the east coast and while we had some ticks, they weren't as bad as here in CA.


Why is this? The ticks here seem so numerous even in areas that aren't thick backwoods.

[Ruth4Truth]

They've been gradually moving out toward the West Coast from the east for decades. IDK, you might be able to find an article explaining the proliferation of them, online. Warmer winters? But the E Coast has always had very cold winters, and they survived there, so IDK.

[kgbnsf]

In the Oakland hills, it wasn't unusual to pull a tick off the dog on an almost weekly basis. Stay away from Crockett Hills in the spring. Two years ago, we decided to try it and our dog picked up over 300 ticks on our hike. I pulled/scrapped/pushed over 50 off of me, sometimes up to 5 at a time climbing up my legs. We spent hours cleaning that mess up. We were so inundated, we gave up on the tick puller and started using our fingernails because it was quicker. Thinking we got them all off our dog before we left the park, she brought them into the car, and then in the house, where we pulled another 20 off of her in the shower. I haven't been back to that park since ;-)

The next weekend, we were back at the Oakland Hills, just 10 miles away, and no ticks. Crockett Hills was mostly a grassy area, not a lot of trees or 'woods'. I don't know what really attracts them. Just nasty.

[Tulemutt]

Ticks like warm-ish and wet. East has more ticks and more tick species, but has winters that keep them in check. You are hiking in a climate that has nearly no cold season. We have also had good rains. This assault you have experienced was predicted:
https://abc7news.com/health/sfsu-stu...eason/3387776/

Hateful little buggers, ain’t they?

[Matadora]

Climate Change’s Role in Tick Migration

Disease cases from infected mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas have tripled in 13 years

[Scorpion3510]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Ticks like warm-ish and wet. East has more ticks and more tick species, but has winters that keep them in check. You are hiking in a climate that has nearly no cold season. We have also had good rains. This assault you have experienced was predicted:
https://abc7news.com/health/sfsu-stu...eason/3387776/

Hateful little buggers, ain’t they?

True but I've lived in Louisiana and they really don't have a cold season either. I still didn't experience as many ticks as I have here. My dog is on tick prevention meds but man those buggers still show up EVERYWHERE on him!

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by kgbnsf

In the Oakland hills, it wasn't unusual to pull a tick off the dog on an almost weekly basis. Stay away from Crockett Hills in the spring. Two years ago, we decided to try it and our dog picked up over 300 ticks on our hike. I pulled/scrapped/pushed over 50 off of me, sometimes up to 5 at a time climbing up my legs. We spent hours cleaning that mess up. We were so inundated, we gave up on the tick puller and started using our fingernails because it was quicker. Thinking we got them all off our dog before we left the park, she brought them into the car, and then in the house, where we pulled another 20 off of her in the shower. I haven't been back to that park since ;-)

The next weekend, we were back at the Oakland Hills, just 10 miles away, and no ticks. Crockett Hills was mostly a grassy area, not a lot of trees or 'woods'. I don't know what really attracts them. Just nasty.

They seek ankle to thigh high brush mostly. They don’t ‘jump’ as myth says. They hang on brush branch tips and ‘snag’ as you / dog / deer walk by and inadverdently come in contact with the scrub and bushes.

Few things more disgusting and infuriating than a tick.

Good news: the various infections, such as Lyme disease, they can transmit do not pass from them to your blood stream when they first bury their heads into your skin. It’s something like 12 + hours and more before you’re in danger typically. So you have time to pick them off after a hike without much concern.

Hateful ****ers. Kill them all with joyous celebration.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by Scorpion3510

True but I've lived in Louisiana and they really don't have a cold season either. I still didn't experience as many ticks as I have here. My dog is on tick prevention meds but man those buggers still show up EVERYWHERE on him!

Depending on the rx, they will climb aboard and dig in and then die in hours. Not all tick meds really work well. The ingested ones that are expensive as all f**k mostly do though.

[Tulemutt]

Another thought ... have you heard of permethrin? Spray on your hiking clothes. Infuse them through soaking. Or buy permethrin pre-infused clothes.

Amazingly effective. Here’s an article. You can look for products on the net.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...ived-from-mums

[Scorpion3510]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

They seek ankle to thigh high brush mostly. They don’t ‘jump’ as myth says. They hang on brush branch tips and ‘snag’ as you / dog / deer walk by and inadverdently come in contact with the scrub and bushes.

Few things more disgusting and infuriating than a tick.

Good news: the various infections, such as Lyme disease, they can transmit do not pass from them to your blood stream when they first bury their heads into your skin. It’s something like 12 + hours and more before you’re in danger typically. So you have time to pick them off after a hike without much concern.

Hateful ****ers. Kill them all with joyous celebration.

Lyme transmission usually takes 36+ hours. When the tick detaches from you/your dog after feeding they secrete an enzyme that the Lyme spirochetes live in. That's where the disease moves from them to you.


I'm not sure about other tick borne disease but imagine it is a similar timeframe for transmission.